Acanthamoeba castellanii Can Facilitate Plasmid Transfer Between Environmental Pseudomonas spp.

ABSTRACT: The conditions in which antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes are transferred in natural environments are poorly understood. Acanthamoeba castellanii (a cosmopolitan environmental amoeba) feeds on bacteria by phagocytosis, which places the consumed bacteria closely together in a food vacuole (phagosome) of the amoeba. This way, amoebae can facilitate genetic exchanges between intra-amoebal bacteria. We studied this phenomenon in the clinically relevant bacteria Pseudomonas oleovorans and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (strain 957). The internalization of both the plasmid donor and recipient bacteria was shown by confocal microscopy. In seven independent experiments, an on average 12-fold increase in transfer of the bla_VIM-2 gene between these two Pseudomonas strains was observed in the p

SUBMITTER: Sarink MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12319522 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature